If You Are a Teacher, Then ….
If we want to write a job description for a school teacher, what tasks does the description include? Throughout my training experiences for pre-service and in-service teachers, I realized that there are different perspectives and opinions which are based on trainees’ previous experiences in schooling and / or teaching. Most of the teachers consider that their task is mainly transfer the curriculum content to students’ understandings. But, what does this task mean? And is it enough?
Usually, every What to do is determined by Why it is to be done. By considering the goal of teaching, it is branched from the extremely noble goal of education: Create a Good Citizen.
What does a Good Citizen mean?
The concept of citizenship denotes four meanings: status, identity, civic virtues and participation (Heater, 2004). Citizenship as a status refers to an individual’s legal membership in a nation-state where one is invested with rights and privileges and where one has obligations to the state (Janoski & Gran, 2002; Torres, 1998). Citizenship as identity is about effective membership and belonging. In other words, a citizen must not only be a legal member of the nation state, but s/he must also feel a shared sense of membership and belonging to the nation-state and to other fellow compatriots. Williams (2003) explains that a sense of a substantive shared identity among citizens is seen as an essential condition to a stable constitutional order and to public participation. Citizenship as civic virtues refers to the qualities, dispositions, and behaviors of the citizens deemed desirable and necessary for a flourishing democracy. Citizenship as participation refers to having a voice and exerting influence over public policy in one’s political community (Barber, 2003; Heater, 2004; Miller, 2000; Newmann, 1975).
Therefore, the aim of our teaching learning process is to produce a student who 1) understands his/her rights, privileges and obligations towards his/her country, 2) obeys the law, 3) is loyal to the nation and proud of its accomplishments, 4) is responsible and takes part in and improves life in their communities at different dimensions (environmental, social, economic, and political), and 5) is able to lead a change at the level of national policy.
This student’s profile would never be achieved unless by the efforts of all teachers in the educational organization. The teachers should be implementing their effective role through: 1) planning and preparation, 2) Classroom environment, 3) effective instruction, and 4) Professional responsibilities.
What is the job description of a teacher then?
Based on Danielson Rubric (Danielson, 2013), the job of the teacher is divided into four domains:
· Planning and Preparation
Effective teachers plan and prepare for lessons using: 1) their extensive knowledge of the content area, 2) the relationships among different strands within the content and between the subject and other disciplines, 3) the relationship with real life, values and the ways the lesson would contribute to solve contextual problem, and 4) their students’ prior understanding of the subject. Instructional outcomes are clear, represent important learning in the subject, and are aligned to the curriculum.
The instructional design includes learning activities that are well sequenced and require all students to think, problem solve, inquire, and defend conjectures and opinions. Effective teachers design formative assessments to monitor learning, and they provide the information needed to differentiate instruction. Measures of student learning align with the curriculum, enabling students to demonstrate their understanding in more than one way.
· Classroom Environment
Effective teachers organize their classrooms so that all students can learn. They maximize instructional time and foster respectful interactions with and among students, ensuring that students find the classroom a safe place to take intellectual risks. Students themselves make a substantive contribution to the effective functioning of the class by assisting with classroom procedures, ensuring effective use of physical space (cleanliness, recycling…), and supporting the learning of classmates. Students and teachers work in ways that demonstrate their belief that hard work will result in higher levels of learning. Student behavior is consistently appropriate, and the teacher’s handling of infractions is subtle, preventive, and respectful of students’ dignity.
· Instruction
In the classrooms of accomplished teachers, all students are highly engaged in learning. They make significant contributions to the success of the class through participation in high-level discussions and active involvement in their learning and the learning of others. Teacher explanations are clear and invite student intellectual engagement. The teacher’s feedback is specific to learning goals and rubrics and offers concrete suggestions for improvement. As a result, students understand their progress in learning the content and can explain the learning goals and what they need to do in order to improve. Effective teachers recognize their responsibility for student learning and make adjustments, as needed, to ensure student success.
· Professional Responsibilities
Accomplished teachers have high ethical standards and a deep sense of professionalism, focused on improving their own teaching and supporting the ongoing learning of colleagues. Their record-keeping systems are efficient and effective, and they communicate with families clearly, frequently, and with cultural sensitivity. Accomplished teachers assume leadership roles in both school and community, and they engage in a wide range of professional development activities to strengthen their practice. Reflection on their own teaching results in ideas for improvement that are shared across professional learning communities and contribute to improving the practice of all.
Teachers’ Job Checklist:
According to the above domains, the following checklist would be obtained:
A tool for Reflection
According to the above domains, teachers might use the following rubric to reflect on their teaching practices and set their [1]SMART goals to improve.
[1] SMART: S= specific, M= measurable, A= achievable, R= relevant, T= time limit
